California Open exhibit presented at TAG Gallery

A reception and awards ceremony will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 18 at the Bergamot Station gallery, 2525 Michigan Ave., D3, Santa Monica.

The California Open is a nationwide competition that recognizes excellence in a diverse range of styles and media and offers artists exposure at Bergamot Station, Southern California’s largest art gallery complex and cultural center.

Interest in the California Open has been on the rise since TAG Gallery moved to its current location in Bergamot Station in 2009, a gallery spokesperson said.

This year, 456 artists entered the juried show and 59 artworks were selected from more than 1,300 entries by juror Meg Linton, the renowned director of galleries and exhibitions at the Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design in Westchester.

“It was encouraging to see such a strong, vibrant, and diverse range of media, styles, and expressions,” Linton said. “I was extremely impressed with the wide array of work and the show offers a glimpse of the many talented artists working in California.”

Over the last 17 years, Linton has organized hundreds of solo and group exhibitions, published dozens of catalogs and worked with respected artists, curators and institutions. She currently serves on the board of directors and program committee for 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica, as an executive board member for the LAX Coastal Area Chamber of Commerce, and as a member of the international curators’ congress IKT.

With her selection of artworks for the exhibit, Linton said she hoped to convey “the diversity of the artists’ processes, politics, and formal and personal experiences that are both familiar and provocative.”

“This exhibition is a celebration of their talent, their passion and their ability to express themselves in positive and stimulating ways,” she explained.

“It is a vital sampling of the energy encouraged in this environment. These inspired and creative individuals possess the potential to shape our visual world in meaningful ways.”Information, (310) 829-9556, or www.taggallery.net.